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Shadow and Shade

"I stayed up all night finishing Shadow and Shade, a fascinating fantasy world of magic, family, and what happens when the two collide. A tough and enchanting tale that will have you listening to the forest and talking to the wolves. I can't wait to see what Gerrard writes next!" Rebecca Cantrell, New York Times bestselling author of The World Beneath

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Homo Sapiens Aquadomicilius

Erica’s scientific mind observed what her emotional side couldn’t believe was sitting right in front of her. Green cycloid scales, similar in pattern and density to common tuna fish. She brushed her fingers on them, giddy with joy at touching a new species, before it connected in her head that she was brushing the shin of the man she’d been about to propose spending the rest of her life with.

Erica’s eyebrows clenched to a V. She squeezed Aaron’s leg like she was doing deep tissue massage.

“Ow! Hey, that’s my leg!”

There wasn’t a seam. It wasn’t a trick. The scales just stopped and his skin began. She could feel muscles underneath the scales just like she could on a normal fish.

“What is this? What are you?” Erica asked.

“Homo sapiens aquadomicilius.”

“Smart human water dweller. Very funny.”

“I wanted to live on land to see what it was like. I never thought I’d fall in love with somebody, or that you would fall for me.”

“You’ve been lying to me all this time?”

“Not at all. You didn’t ask if I was human.”

“You said you were from Florida.”

“I was born about three miles off the coast, yes.”

“You have a degree in oceanography.”

“It’s honorary. I taught the director everything he knows about dolphin communication. He even named one of the dolphins at the institute ‘Aaron’ after I left. ”

“You have a job. An apartment. A car.”

“I’m off the grid. You know that.”

He worked as a part-time bartender, part-time scuba dive tour guide. Most of the time he was paid in cash.

“Are there more of you?”

He smiled. “A lot more.”

“I don’t believe you,” Erica said, even as she stared at the scales on his leg.

“What did Roald Dahl say? ’Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.’”

Erica folded her arms. She thought she had him cornered on this one. “Did your parents really die in a car accident?”

He sighed. “Fine. You’ve got me there. They were actually strangled in a fishing trawler’s net. Are you happy now?”

Erica turned cold. She wanted to know the truth, but she hadn’t wanted to hurt him. Erica could see that she’d hit him below the belt. She shuffled over and sat down next to him. She wrapped her arms around her knees. The original reason why they’d started this conversation seemed like someone else’s wild lark.